


The Convenience Store | a short MarkHyuck story

by gokioh



Series: Kpop One Shots [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cute Mark Lee (NCT), LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Multi, OC characters, OT21 (NCT), One Shot, Polyamory, Pre-Poly, Wingwoman, always raining for some reason, cute and fluffy, cute donghyuck, instant ramen gets a mention, lot of kpop references, stream nct dream boom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gokioh/pseuds/gokioh
Summary: ❝I feel like we're missing something... I just don't know what?❞Mark smirked lightly,  ❝I think you do. Don't hide this from me, let me know.❞ He bent down and kissed Donghyuck's nose, between his eye and then his forehead. ❝Trust me.❞❝I do!❞ Donghyuck said quickly... he then blushed. ❝I think we're missing a someone instead of something,❞ he answered honestly.In which Donghyuck feels bored in his relationship with Mark so he tells the older (because communication is key). They both feel like they're missing something and perhaps that some'thing' is actually a some'one.' This short story follows both Mark and Donghyuck into a convenience store where they meet a boy who may just be right in filling their relationship.





	The Convenience Store | a short MarkHyuck story

parté one

Mark and Donghyuck had been dating for a year now, they were content and happy. They had their arguments but with your leader/parental figure being Taeyong, those got shut down quickly. Most of the time it was just Donghyuck getting a little too hot headed at Mark talking to someone he didn't approve of. Donghyuck just wanted his boyfriend to himself and that was prominent when they had their rare breaks. Those were the only times that Donghyuck could actually be with Mark. It used to be that Donghyuck would have more breaks than Mark because the boy was in 3 units and had more roles.

Mark left NCT Dream, but Donghyuck stayed. The younger was now in NCT 127 and NCT Dream, so this time around, Mark was the one relaxing whilst Donghyuck had to move around a lot. The younger was happy when NCT 127's tour around the US ended and they got to Korea again. For one, he was feeling homesick and two, he wanted to hang around with Mark again. They would cuddle and kiss, share sweet moments and generally spend their free time with each other and with the other members.

However, Donghyuck was starting to feel bored. Which was worrying because, out of the two of them, Donghyuck was usually the one to spice things up. When he realised that he was getting bored, he started to worry. What if he was getting bored at their relationship? This was one of the more serious relationships Donghyuck had been in; he dated a few girls before he realised he was gay and maybe it was just because Mark was his first boyfriend that he was feeling this way. Right?

"Wrong," Mark said, looking down at the English cue cards in his hands and then up at his boyfriend who was staring away from him. Donghyuck's full attention was directed towards the window, making the older turn his head as well. There was nothing out of the ordinary, especially since it was raining, no one actually outside. "Donghyuck are you listening to me?" Donghyuck snapped from his thoughts and looked over at Mark. About to nod, he decided not to and simply walked over to Mark's bed. He flopped beside the older and rested his head on Mark's lap.

Mark smiled softly, "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I'm bored," Donghyuck said honestly.

"We don't have to practise if you want—"

"No not of this— well no, this is boring as heck. I mean, us..." Donghyuck buried his face in Mark's stomach, sighing into the older's thick hoodie.

"You're bored of us?" Mark asked, tilting his head.

"No— but I'm not excited either," he said honestly. "Is that bad?" he pouted, looking up at the older.

Mark scrunched up his face, "I don't know. What do you want?"

Donghyuck thought back to when he saw Renjun and Jaemin both joke around whilst Jeno watched them lovingly from the side. "I feel like we're missing something... I just don't know what?"

Mark smirked lightly, "I think you do. Don't hide this from me, let me know." He bent down and kissed Donghyuck's nose, between his eyes and then his forehead. "Trust me."

"I do!" Donghyuck said quickly... he then blushed. "I think we're missing a someone instead of something," he answered honestly.

Mark tilted his head, "You want kids?"

Donghyuck could have rolled his eyes, the older was so bloody oblivious sometimes it was a miracle that he was able to recognise Donghyuck's feelings for him. Even so, if there was one thing Mark was pretty observant on, it was Donghyuck. He knew when the younger started to crush on him the same as noticing how Donghyuck's mood shifted after the NCT 127 tour. "I want a Renjun!" Donghyuck exclaimed.

Mark did finally understand what Donghyuck meant. Jaemin and Jeno were dating way before getting into SM Entertainment, and when Renjun came into the picture the boys were love struck. Mark found it absolutely hilarious before he realised that they were both really serious. They were getting more and more sadder when they realised that Renjun didn't really seem at all interested. Which was ironic, because when they finally confessed (3 years after training and a year into their debut period) Renjun returned the feelings mutually and introduced them into polyamory.

Both both felt completely embarrassed at the fact that they didn't even think to search up 3 people relationships. Now that Mark really did look back on it, he remembered catching Donghyuck face timing the three boys when they were in America. He also hung around Renjun a lot after they came back. "Wait— is that why you went to Renjun when we came back to the company? You were asking about polyamory?" he looked down at the younger.

Donghyuck covered his face with his hands but nodded, "Why am I the one embarrassed? Mark, be embarrassed with me," Donghyuck whispered.

Mark chuckled, "Honestly, I couldn't care less. We can try to add someone to our relationship if you—"

"How are you not freaking out?!" Donghyuck scrambled up and leaned closer to Mark's face, causing the older tilt back on his bed.

"'Cause it's not a big deal—"

"It is! I mean I have to share you now!" Donghyuck whined.

Mark arched his brow, "Are you sure you're the one that wants a person in this relationship... cause we can always—"

"No! I mean- I don't... who?" Donghyuck huffed.

Mark wrapped his arms around the youngsters shoulder, who lay haphazardly on the older's upper body. Kind sprawled and pathetic-like. Very un-Haechan. But very Donghyuck. "Someone who doesn't know us. Not in NCT, not even in SM Entertainment. Someone who doesn't listen to k-pop and likes to watch superhero movies," Mark quickly added.

Donghyuck looked up, placing his chin on Mark's chest and staring at the older with a thoughtful look. "He can watch those silly movies with you, but he can wear matching outfits with me," the younger added.

Mark rolled his eyes, smiling because Donghyuck always wanted them to couple up whilst he just liked his own style. "Fine... he needs to be shorter than me."

"We're giants compared to the average male Korean, so he might be shorter than me," Donghyuck shrugged. "He should wear glasses!"

"His favourite colour can be green."

"He has a cute little brother, who's... 7 at best—"

"You're getting very specific Donghyuck," Mark arched his brow. The younger laughed and reached forward to connect their lips, "You haven't already found someone have you?"

Donghyuck shook his head, "Of course not. The perfect boy for us probably doesn't exist..."

Mark stroked the younger's hair and watched him lay his head on the older's chest. "Sup losers!" Johnny stormed into their room. This cause Donghyuck to scrunched his eyebrows in hatred and Mark to smile politely at the older. "Taeyong says you need to buy dinner for tonight. He doesn't feel like cooking and everyone agreed on having instant noodles. We all wrote down the kind we want, here's his card," Johnny threw a small piece of paper that was ripped out of one of Taeil's many empty notebooks (why buy so many if you never use them??) and Taeyong's card which flew into the air and hit Donghyuck's head.

The younger flinched and opened his eyes, hissing at the older, "Did your boyfriend just hiss at me?" Johnny asked, looking at Donghyuck weirdly.

"We didn't agree on instant noodles," Donghyuck said, ignoring Johnny.

The older simply shrugged, "No one would have cared. You'd have been out-voted anyway, go on, no one wants to head out in the rain," he turned to close the door.

"Why do we have to do it hyung?!" Mark shouted.

"I can't hear you I'm already out the door," Johnny shouted back, walking away. Mark squinted his eyes at the door and lifted himself up, making Donghyuck slide on the ground. Mark was wearing sweats and his thick jumper so he was fine. Donghyuck was in sweatpants as well, but a t-shirt. The younger walked out of the room, letting Mark pick up the list and the card. The younger walked into the living room where Taeil, Yuta, Jaehyun and Taeyong were. He looked over at Taeyong who was going to put on his jacket and quickly snatched it from the leader.

"Wha- Donghyuck I was going to wear that!"

"Too bad, I'm not getting soaked out there," the younger pulled out his tongue and rushed out of the dorm room. Mark followed laughing, they both headed out. They had an umbrella so that was some help but Donghyuck— Taeyong's jacket was already soaked at the side that wasn't shielded from the umbrella.

They made it to the convenience store closest to SM Entertainment and rushed in, shivering and huddling close. "Let's just get the damn instant noodles and then die," Donghyuck muttered, looking around at the shelves. Donghyuck didn't recognise the new set-up and it was annoying him, "how are we supposed to find anything if they keep changing up all the stock!" he angrily protested.

Mark was about to open his mouth when a voice already called out, "I know. Just imagine working here, trying to stock up new products but you don't even know where they are," the voice said. It was the employee, a boy they had never seen before, "Do you need help?" he asked with a grin. Donghyuck looked over at Mark, who stared at the younger before shrugging his shoulders.

"Instant noodles?" the older said.

"Cool," the employee nodded to himself, turning around, "follow me!" He looked through most of the shelves before turning into an aisle and smiling widely, "I knew, I knew where you were," he whispered, but Mark and Donghyuck caught it. Was he talking to the noodles? He sped up and point over to the third bottom shelf, "just down here," he motioned. "I think we have some more on the promotional side, with is just at the end of this aisle. Anything else?" he asked.

"No, we'll be fine," Mark muttered.

The employee nodded, "Cool. Have a nice day," he almost said robotically. Like a script he recited everyday, Mark deducted that he probably did. Subconsciously, both Mark and Donghyuck eyed the boy up and down, taking him in as he walked away.

"He's got nice ankles," Donghyuck whispered.

Mark turned to his boyfriend and furrowed his brows, "What's that even supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, I think I saw it in a movie once," Donghyuck turned back to the instant noodles and started to pile them in Mark's arms. "He was cute," he mentioned.

Mark chewed on his lip, "Do we do this now? Just find someone we call cute, cause I don't want you calling other people cute."

Donghyuck stood up and dusted his knees, "You are the cutest. I'm just thinking about our previous conversation at the house," he explained. "What if he's 'the one'?" Donghyuck asked with air quotations.

Mark shrugged, "Then we'll meet him again. But we had stuff we wanted our one to be. I have a feeling he doesn't like superhero movies that much," he mumbled, looking at the ground.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes with a small smile, "Come on my big baby. Let's go spend Taeyong hyung's money," he said happily. Mark followed the younger as they both went to go pay. Donghyuck's happy mood went down when he realised how long the line was, compared to the one girl at the cashier, trying to do everything herself. He looked over at the empty till and clicked his tongue "Can't they call someone."

"Yo Jay! Can you hop on?" the girl called.

Mark and Donghyuck, as well as other customers turned around. It was the employee from before, he was filling up the sweet section. He nodded and made a cute little, "humph!" sound (stream 'Humph!' by Pentagon) when he got up from his knees. He almost tripped getting to the till but he stabled himself on the old computer/till set up.

"Can I help anyone?" he shouted, whilst logging into the register. An old man went to go in his line. Mark and Donghyuck were both quick to run over to the employee. He looked back at the man and smiled, "Hiya," he greeted.

"Heer-ro," the man slurred, holding onto his walking stick with shaking hands.

"How have you been, sir?" the boy asked, making eye contact and scanning the items in at the same time. He looked over at a piece of bread and typed in the bar code without even having to stare at the label. The man kept his words slow but still slurred, except the boy understood each word. "I know," he replied. "Lottery tickets get you anything?" he asked, starting to pack up the man's things.

The man showed him the ticket with violently shaking hands. The boy tutted, "a tenner? That's my pocket money for a week," he laughed. "Where do you want it?" he asked, holding the bag up high. His skinny arms shook slightly with the weight but he pressed on a smile nonetheless. He looked over at the man's walking stick and placed it on the handle. The man gave him his card and the boy swiped it on the machine before giving it back. "Have a nice day," he said again and robotically.

Because of how long it took the older man, the only people left in line were Mark and Donghyuck. "Jay, can you take over the kiosk for literally a sec? I need the toilet," his coworker asked.

"Sure, do you guys wanna go to the kiosk?" he signed out of the till and made his way through the staff doors and into the main paying area. Mark placed all the instant noodles on the counter and let the boy do the work.

"You're going slower," Donghyuck observed.

"I am, I wanted to get him done quickly so I could get more customers. But since you're the only ones here, I'm going a little bit at a normal pace because I'm going to be bored till my coworker comes back," he admitted.

Donghyuck nodded, "I'm Haechan," he introduced.

Mark eyed his boyfriend weirdly, he never greeted people with his stage name, "I'm Mark," he said.

"Foreign?" Jay asked.

"Yep, Canada."

"Cool, I'm half English—" Jay stopped and looked up around him. "It's this song again," he smiled softly.

Donghyuck blushed when he noticed the familiar start up of 'My Page' by NCT Dream start to play (stream 'Boom' by NCT Dream). Mark looked over at Jay with squinted eyes, "Do you know what song it is?"

"Beats me, but it's the only song out of our managers playlist I like. It's upbeat and fun, I don't listen to songs a lot," he shrugged. "Want a bag?"

"Yes please," Donghyuck asked, leaning on the counter, staring at the boy. He flickered his gaze at Donghyuck and smiled before starting to fill the bags himself, "so... what do you listen to?"

"You probably won't know," he waved off.

"Try us." Mark asked in challenge.

The employee arched his brow, "Iron Man 3 suite soundtrack number three," he said. Mark tilted his head, "I like movie soundtracks. Used to be obsessed with superheroes when I was younger—"

"You like superheroes?!" Donghyuck almost shouted.

The employee flinched, "I- I mean I still do? Not as much though," he whispered the last part.

Mark placed a hand on Donghyuck's chest and calmed him slightly, "Sorry 'bout him. You like superhero movies? Favourite one?" he asked.

"Any from 'The Dark Knight' trilogy. That cinematography combined with the narrative, it's a gem," he commented. Mark nodded and got out Taeyong's card, tapping it on the machine. The employee was going to ask if they want the receipt when the card declined. "Oh- give us a sec—" he whispered. He looked around the counter and pulled out rectangular specs, making Donghyuck's eyes widen and shake Mark's arm. The younger mouthed to his boyfriend about wearing glasses and here he was. Even Mark couldn't help but let the corners of his lips slip up.

"Those your glasses?"

"Coworkers, mine are at home- just forgot for today..." he mumbled reading the receipt. "Doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary, wanna try it insert it with the pin?" he asked.

Mark looked at the card in his hand, "It's not actually ours... it's our roommates. Wait, let me call him."

"Yeah sure," the boy waved off. His coworker who had come back from the toilet, had seen the little exchange. She smirked from behind the bottles of alcohol and backed away slowly.

Her manager was about to go to the kiosk before the girl rushed to the alcohol and quickly dropped one. "Whoops, I'm so sorry, it just slipped from my fingers," she said.

"Why did you even need alcohol?"

"A man wanted me to save a bottle of—" she looked down at the glass shards— "rosé (stan Blackpink and give YG artist some love), so I was just going to get one— he was coming back." That wasn't technically a lie. Her dad wanted to save one and buy it at the end of her shift.

"Okay, let's go clean it up then," they both went the opposite way away from Jay.

"You owe me one little man," she whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"So favourite colour?" Donghyuck asked, looking at the employee with a soft smile.

Mark typed in the numbers successfully this time. "I would say blue... or green. I don't mind," he laughed. "What about you?"

"Uh purple! Do you have siblings?"

"A younger one—"

"Aww cute, how old?" Donghyuck asked, whilst Mark face palmed.

"6, she's going to start primary school soon."

"Oh that's cool," Mark said, pushing a pouting Donghyuck out of the way. He grabbed the bags, "So how old are you?"

"19," Donghyuck grinned, there was a chance he was older than the employee. "I'll be turning 20 in like... 3 months time?" he thought out loud.

Mark smirked at Donghyuck, whose shoulders fell, "Older than my boyfriend here," he let slip. The boy nodded, his smile a little more stretched then usual.

"That's... cool! Um... well, have a nice day. Make sure to cover yourself from the rain," he warned, quickly getting over the fact that the two handsome boys in front of him were boyfriends. He might as well be friendly? It's not like they were going to see each other again anyway.

"Yeah, bye Jay!" Donghyuck grabbed Mark's arm and dragged the older boy away who looked guilty that he let that information slip out like that. "Well there go our chances."

"I'm sorry," he whined, when they got outside. "What do we do now?"

"Wait till they close and ambush him?" Donghyuck suggested.

"One, that's insane. Two, Taeyong hyung wants us back after he found out Johnny made us go in this weather. We'll come back next week and see if he's here again." Donghyuck pouted but followed his boyfriend back home.

parté two

The second time Mark and Donghyuck went back to the convenience store, they had to make up an excuse to Johnny who was getting too into their private lives. "I just want ramen, is that too much to ask?" Donghyuck whined, grabbing Mark's sleeves and pulling his boyfriend to the door.

"Dressed like that?" Johnny wandered, looking down at the youngsters clothing. Donghyuck also stared at his black ripped jeans; they were his and Mark's favourite, because they were skinny. Donghyuck liked his body, sue him. He had an inkling of a thought Johnny was looking at the boys' Burberry orange sweatshirt, that was tucked into his jeans. Donghyuck lounged around in sweatpants and t-shirts all day, he only ever wore something nice at airports or when something came up.

"You could say the same think about Mark!" Donghyuck exclaimed pointing to the older.

"That's beside the point, Mark always dresses nice," Johnny said.

"Aw, thanks man."

"Any time bro," Johnny shrugged. Donghyuck sighed obnoxiously loud and stepped out of the dorm, with Mark following. Johnny also strode along with them, "I want ramen too," he excused. 

"But—"

"Sure," Mark said, just grabbing Donghyuck and letting them all walk the same pace.

"What are you doing?" Donghyuck hissed.

"Making us seem less sus, we'll just have to distract him somehow," he shrugged. Donghyuck furrowed his brows, it was always the younger who came up with the schemes and Mark to tell him no. He smiled slightly when he realised that he was starting to rub off on his boyfriend. When they made it to the convenience store, Mark and Donghyuck both groaned.

"What?"

"They changed the layout of the store again?" Donghyuck questioned, "now how are we going to find the ramen?" Johnny arched his brow but literally pointed to the first shelf unit at the front of the store. "Oh..." Donghyuck smiled, forgetting to thank the older and grabbed three random packets, running to the checkout. He was met with the girl from last time.

"Hey you're Haechan, Jay told me about you," she said. Donghyuck blushed but nodded, "Are you and your boyfriend looking for him?" she asked. His eyes widened and he nodded, "He's outside, washing our microwaves. He went home through the rain last week, so he's got a huge cold today. He's taking the easy work this shift, I think he'll be happy to see you both."

Donghyuck pouted, feeling a sense of 'must protect little bean' in his system. Yes, he was taller than the boy. By about an inch. "Here's the thing," Donghyuck whispered, "our friend, the tall freak of nature over there," he pointed to Johnny. "He can't know we're going to see him, so can you distract him?"

She grinned, "Sir, you have my word. Oh! You're card declined," she exclaimed loudly. This got Mark and Johnny's attention, "do you have another card?" she subtly winked at Donghyuck.

"Um... no, sorry?" the idol said, getting into the skit pretty quickly.

"I do, here let me—" Johnny swiped his card but the girl was quick to type something on her screen.

"I think it wants the pin, bleating thing's been playing up for months now, I've been speaking to the manager you see," Johnny started to type his pin in. "Oh it worked- well anyway, I've been speaking to the manager about it fixed right? Except no one's doing anything about it." Johnny just smiled awkwardly and nodded along to her rambling.

Donghyuck grabbed Mark's arm and gave her a salute from behind Johnny's tall body, running out of the shop. He turned to the side where the microwaves were. Low and behold, Jay was sitting on a stool, wiping at the insides, with a cloth and a bottle of disinfectant. He looked up to see the two boys stare down at him and smiled softly, "Hey- what are you guys doing here?" he asked.

Mark held up the ramen, "Oh I see. Would you like me to heat it up for you? Just take a seat," he took the ramen from the boys and went to one of the previously clean and dried microwaves, to start up on their food.

"Your coworker told me you were sick," Donghyuck asked.

Mark furrowed his brows, "You're sick?"

"Yeah," Jay wheezed slightly when he tried to laugh, "getting better though. The doctors gave me some syrup, but I binned it the first day- tastes horrible. That was expensive and then I realised we sell the damn thing in the store, for a cheaper price." He got out a tissue and covered his mouth with it before coughing. Mark looked at the younger with worry.

"Why are you working?"

The boy shrugged, "Every penny counts I guess... what about you two? Got home safely?" he asked.

"We did, but you walked through the rain? How stupid can you be?" Donghyuck rebuked.

"Ya, Heachan-ah! I'm still older than you, you know?" he rebuked and then went into another coughing fit. "God... I have about two hours till I get home," he whined.

Donghyuck cooed and helped him with the ramen. Mark watched both boys with a smile before he sat up straighter and wandered if that's how Jeno felt, watching Jaemin and Renjun interact. It was a good feeling, just filled with pure and innocent love. Jay flinched when Donghuck touched his arm, "Sorry— there are cameras around. I'm legally not allowed to touch customers," he apologised.

"I'm the one who touched you," Donghyuck said, tilted his head to the side.

Jay blushed at how Donghyuck was being cute without even knowing and Mark smirked, knowing what the younger was thinking. "Um no... that won't look like that. Plus the owner has the camera system installed on his phone, he might be watching today. I'd rather not risk that, also I'm sick and I'd feel awful if I got you like that too. I'm sure you have work and it's bad if you ended up sick—"

"Yo losers! I just got that girl to get her back off me but... what are you doing?" Johnny asked, looking at Donghyuck who was still touching Jay's arm and Mark just looking really panicked.

"Sorry," Jay bowed and gave Donghyuck his meal before turning and walking into the store.

"Who was that?" Johnny asked.

"I don't know, he cooked our ramen for us so that's a win," Donghyuck looked away from Johnny and went to sit opposite Mark. Johnny squinted his eyes at Mark who didn't retained eye contact. The older rolled his eyes and went to heat up his own ramen, "So what happened at the counter? She into you or something?"

"How the hell should I know, she—"

***

Jay raced over to the kiosk, where his coworker was checking all the cigarettes. "You're never going to believe it," he exclaimed.

"Mark and Haechan are back and they went to go and see you before their freakishly tall friend intervened?" she asked, turning around and laughing at his stunned face.

"How did—"

"Haechan asked me to distract the tall weirdo so they both could sneak and see you. What did I tell you, pillygamy," she grinned wickedly.

Jay rolled his eyes, "It's poly-amo-ry," he pronounced slowly for her. "And I don't think so. I think they just want to be friends, which I'm cool with," he said.

She rolled her eyes, "I know you are. Remember that cute boy from last year that was into you, what did you do?"

Jay pouted, "I friend zoned him... and then set him up with another one of my friends. To be fair, they're both doing well in an art studio in America or somewhere," he waved off.

She shook her head, "You really need to stop looking at everyone as a potential friend and look out for potential lovers," she said, using plural.

Jay shook his head, "I'm fine—"

"Hey," both employees turned to their manager, "what you both doing?"

"Jay came to get more tissues," his coworker lied, grabbing a paper towel and handing it to the boy. Jay nodded and walked outside to see the three boys all eating. They all turned to stare at the boy who looked down and continued washing the microwaves. The three all left without saying a word to Jay, and even though he didn't know Mark or Haechan that much, he was a little disappointed. When he finished his shift for the day he signed out with his key card, grabbing his bag and waiting on the manager. He and his coworker were both talking when the manager came over and thanked them for the day before opening the front doors and letting the workers all out.

Jay had his eyes on the ground, looking for anything that he would skip over when someone nudged his side. He looked up to see his coworker, "What you doing?" he asked.

She grinned and motioned to the car park where two boys were waiting for him, "I told them what time we finished," she smiled guiltily before running over to her bike and peddling away.

He jogged over to Mark and Haechan and smiled politely, "What are you guys doing here?" he asked, a faint blush on his cheeks. He was thankful that the night couldn't show how flustered he was, which wasn't good for his health because he was starting to feel a little hot headed. His breathing got heavier, he just wanted to go home and sleep forever.

"We wanted to see you again Jay," Haechan explained. "Plus," he placed a warm hand on Jay's shoulder, "you're ill and it's not safe to be out on your own like this."

Jay grinned widely, "My house is only a couple roads down, wanna walk me?" he asked. Mark and Donghyuck nodded very quickly before they both tried to look cool again. Jay giggled quietly and walked ahead, letting the two tall boys stay beside him. They were at a simple pace when they passed an alleyway.

"Yo Jay!" a rough voice shouted. Jay stopped and looked over at the alleyway, whilst Mark and Donghyuck shielded the boy. "Who are these fellas?"

Jay pushed through Mark and Donghyuck, "Some friends I made at work. How's Taehyun doing?(stream 'Run Away' by TXT)" he asked the boy in the shadows. "He can come round mine again for more tutoring sessions. I heard he has an exam in two months?"

"Yeah mate. Couldn't find you yesterday, but here's your payment." A hand stretched out from the dark abyss and Jay simply took it casually. He bowed at the boy in the shadows and waved politely before walking off.

"Who was that?" Donghyuck asked.

"He used to go to the same university as me. We both dropped out, he's an old friend," the other replied. "I tutor his younger brother English," he explained. "This is me," Jay looked up at the estate flat. Mark and Donghyuck both frowned, "you guys alright?"

"Yeah it's just that— it doesn't look too comfy up there," Mark admitted.

Jay laughed but nodded, "I guess so. Maybe one day I'll show you my place, anyway. Thanks for walking me guys," he jogged into the doors and pressed a key against the pad, waiting for it to beep before he went in. Jay turned back and waved at the two before taking his long flight of stairs. Mark and Donghyuck pouted, but walked home.

"Do you think he lives on his own?" Donghyuck asked, wrapping himself around Mark's arm.

The older looked thoughtful for a second, "I don't think so, he did talk about his younger sibling didn't he? We can always ask?"

"Yeah okay."

***

Both Mark and Donghyuck made it to Jay's convenience store every Sunday. When NCT Dream were about to have their comeback for their song 'Boom' Donghyuck couldn't make the meetings. Mark took over and would have more rational conversations with the younger, whom he found out was taking three different jobs. He was a delivery boy for a pizza place Mark didn't really know the name of (apparently Haechan did, the boys always order because their delivery service was pretty quick). The convenience store he worked at and then as a waiter for a small restaurant. All three jobs were really easy and flexible to work with.

Mark also learnt that Jay had a very stable home and family life in England, where his little sister was. Which explained the primary school education because Mark didn't understand the British system. Jay was living on his own in his apartment but was planning on moving in with his coworker soon, and her other friends. She was probably the only person in Jay's life that seemed to really be there considering he was on his own. The boy only moved to South Korea for 6 months and he was still trying to get used to the culture differences.

"So how is your Korean so good?" Mark asked.

"About three years before I asked my dad if he could teach me Korean. He agreed and bam," he shrugged. "I'm here now."

"Why are you here, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jay shook his head and took his glasses off, tucking them into his belt loop. "I was supposed to study here, university here is better than the one in England. I dropped out so I'm looking at other ones for next year. I guess you could call this year a gap year," he dismissed.

Mark nodded, "Anyway, I should probably get going. Johnny's probably going to wonder why I'm out this long."

"The tall roommate from last time?" Jay asked. Mark nodded, and he grinned. "Let me see if I can remember all your roommates. Taeyong the mum friend... Yuta the Japanese one with a pretty smile?" Mark nodded laughing slightly. "You and Haechan... Taeil- someone you said I think I would get along well with."

"Taeil hyung would love you."

"Good to know," Jay giggled. "Um... Winwin? Which I'm still convinced is not his actual name but he left to go to China right?"

"Yep."

"Doyoung, he loves you and Haechan right?" Mark nodded. "Oh Jaehyun! He's the one that came in with Johnny that one time. That's it right?"

Mark shook his head, "you forgot Jungwoo. He's new, joined last year."

"How big is your house that you have like what.. 10 people living there?" Jay asked.

Mark laughed nervously, "big— we all pay rent, we don't really know when we're ever going to stop adding people in. Taeyong hyung likes it though, he likes to have more children to feed."

Jay giggled, "That's cute. Anyway, you're supposed to go mister," he waved his finger in Mark's face. The older was tempted to kiss Jay but refrain himself from doing so. One, he could literally get the younger fired and two, he didn't want to freak the boy out. "Bye Mark."

"Bye bye Jay," Mark whispered before walking out of the store.

The next week both Mark and Donhyuck couldn't make it to the convenience store. Jay was pouty throughout his entire shift, waiting for them and then got angry at himself for thinking like that. Maybe he shouldn't feel like he was special to them because he was simply their friend. But was he? Haechan hadn't been in the store for at least two months and Mark suddenly stopped showing up. Maybe they were busy? His coworker tried to lift his spirits but nothing could be done.

"I don't even know why I'm so down today. It's not like I should expect them to be here every week. But they're here every week and have been for the past four months... did they get bored of me? No. It's literally the first time this has happened, maybe they'll be here next week? Yeah, I shouldn't be so caught up in this," he muttered in his new apartment. His coworker managed to pull a few strings with her housemates and got Jay living with her.

So, t'was this one gay boy amongst four girls. To be fair, none of the three girls knew anything about Jay other than the fact that he worked with their other housemate. When they met the adorable boy, they fell in love. It was like a display of motherly hormones over taking them and they adopted the sweet little Jay, who was a bit overwhelmed with this much interaction. He was currently ranting his problem to the two girls in his room, one being his coworker and the other being the oldest girl.

They both sat on the couch and let him rant whilst pacing back and forth. He kept thinking badly and then tried being positive and then think badly all over again. It was a continuous cycle and neither girls could be asked actually trying to help the younger out. They learnt pretty quickly that Jay was very much a talker and didn't like to be interrupted. Still, after he was done, they let him sit between them and watch a movie together. He sighed into the fuzzy pink, Hannah Montana themed blanket left by the youngest girl who was currently out and decided to watch 'Descendants of the Sun.'

The next week, Jay was waiting for Haechan and Mark to show up... they didn't. This continued till the next time Jay got paid, which was a month later. He had been working at the convenience store for almost an entire year now and he was planning to quit, which also meant that he would probably never see the two again. So he quit, he already had two stable jobs and he applied to another university that had accepted him.

***

The boy had forgotten about Mark and Donghyuck one day when he was delivering pizza. "Hey I'm here for the pizza," he asked, the security guard at the front of a really expensive building. He was let in to see a nice looking lounge area so he sat there with the five pizza next to him.

A woman walked over to him, she was wearing a business suit and gave the boy a once over before plastering a smile on her face. "I'm really sorry. I'd take these off you but I'm literally heading out for a meeting. Do you think you can get these to the boys on your own?"

"Yeah, um... where do I go?" he asked standing up.

"5th floor. It's where the dorm rooms are, just find the one labelled NCT 127," she explained.

Jay furrowed his brows but nodded, taking the money the lady gave him and then grabbed the pizza. His arms shook under the heavyweight but he still went into the elevator. He was about to close it when a hand caught it and two (really tall) boys came in. "Sorry," he picked up the pizza that he let stay on the floor.

"Do you need help with that?" one of the boys asked.

"Suho hyung, of course he does. Don't just ask that," the younger of the two said.

"Shut up Sehun," the older rebuked before taking the pizza.

"Where to?"

Jay looked between then before opening his mouth, "NCT 127?"

"Oh, cool." They all came out onto the 5th floor and made their way to the NCT dorms.

"I can take it from here," Jay said, taking the pizza boxes and bowing respectfully. "Thank you." They both smiled before walking back into the elevator. Jay looked at the door and knocked at it. When he saw who opened the door up he dropped the pizza boxes.

"J-jay!" Mark exclaimed.

Donghyuck ran to the door, "did you say— Jay..."

Jay looked at the two and then behind their shoulders, where a bunch of boys had gathered around to look at the commotion. His eyes pricked with tears, "roommates, huh?" He could see Johnny and Jaehyun, remembering their faces from last time.

A skinny boy walked over to them, "Mark. Donghyuck, what's going on?"

"Donghyuck?" Jay questioned. "You lied about your name?"

Haechan— or Donghyuck looked at the younger in distress, "No I- well technically yes, but—"

"Save it," Jay ran back to the elevator. Mark stepped over the pizza and started to run after the younger before the elevator doors closed. Donghyuck was right behind him, with glassy eyes.

"Did we just lose him?"

Mark wrapped an arm around his boyfriend, "I don't know."

parté three

Jay ran out of SM Entertainment with tears streaming down his cheeks. He looked outside and could feel the gods above laugh at his misery. It was raining so badly and he was wearing a thin zip up hoodie that wouldn't protect him. The boy looked at the sky and his predicament, it was not raining before so why now? "Jay! Wait!" a voice shouted. It was Mark. He could see Haech—Donghyuck and Mark both get out of the elevator and call for him.

He didn't care if he had to risk his health, he walked out into the rain. The boy almost cursed at how cold and wet he immediately became. He ran over to the steal bike pipes and quickly undid the bike lock on his mo-ped; his hands shaking to twist the key properly. Jay looked up to see Mark and Donghyuck by the doors, also looking a bit uneasy to come out in the violent rain. Thunder struck making Jay scream before slapping his hand over his mouth. He shook his head and undid the lock.

Before he could wheel his mo-ped out to the road, two strong hands held the handle bars. At the same time, another set of hands held the shaking boy. Jay looked up to see Mark pushing his mo-ped back and Donghyuck look over at him with worry. He pushed the younger away and grabbed his mo-ped back, "Leave me alone," he said over the rain. It wasn't loud and for a second he thought they wouldn't be able to catch what he said.

"No, let us explain," Mark started.

"Please, Jay hyung," Donghyuck whimpered.

"Explain what?" Jay shouted, making Donghyuck flinch and step closer to Mark. "You've both been lying this whole time? You what? You find boys like me, easily manipulated, and just what? Try to be friends, make me feel better about moving into a new country and then you leave. You just never show up and I don't know what to think, was I boring? Did I do something?" Both boys shook their heads, "you lied about everything!" he shouted. "You're those idols, under companies and you sing and stuff right? Like a boy band or something... NCT 127. That's your group name isn't it?"

"Why did you lie about your name?" he looked over at Donghyuck.

"I- I wanted to make sure that you knew nothing about us before..." Donghyuck trailed off.

"Before what?" he looked at both of them but they were staring at the ground guiltily. Jay sighed, tired of pining after the two and decided he had enough. He grabbed his bike and pulled it onto the street properly, "don't. Don't look for me. Don't— just stop playing with me. It's cruel and it's disgusting," he said, putting on his helmet and readying himself to leave. Once Jay could start up the old mo-ped, Mark ran and stood in front of him, holding the front back.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Jay shouted.

"Let us explain, please hyung," Donghyuck placed a hand on Jay's arm but the older shrugged it off. "We tried going back to you, but the manager said you and your coworker quit."

He looked at Donghyuck and then at Mark, "You did?" he looked back at Donghyuck who was nodding.

"I tried going to your flat, but the landlord said you had moved out," Mark explained. "We were considering trying that gang member from the alleyway but didn't want to risk it. We tried to look for you, we really did. It was like you disappeared."

"I wasn't the one dissapearing—" he shook his head, "—you both left without a word. I waited a month for you and my contract was ending. I would've told you if you ever came back," he sighed and dropped his shoulders. "You left me," his voice cracked. "I thought- I thought you didn't want me, like my family... I thought you'd rather I be shipped off to another country to fend for myself. I didn't need that in my life again," he cried. Jay was glad the rain was mixing with his tears.

"Oh Jay," Mark pulled the boy into his chest. Jay was met with a soaking t-shirt and then pushed him away.

"You're in your pajamas!" He turned to Donghyuck, "you- are you both crazy?!" He was met with smiled from both of them. "What are you both smiling for?! You're going to get sick you know!"

"It's fine," Donghyuck said, he suddenly sneezed. The boy rubbed his nose which had turned a pink colour.

Jay shook his head, "Go inside."

"What about you?" Mark looked at the younger boy with worry.

"I still need to get back to work. Here," he pulled out a slip of paper from his wallet. It was his new address so he could remember it but he knew it by heart now. "I live here now," he gave the paper to Mark and turned to Donghyuck, "go inside now."

"Do you forgive us?" Donghyuck asked with hope filled eyes.

Jay felt himself blush but he shook his head. "No... not yet at least."

***

And he didn't for at least a week. Mark and Donghyuck tried to meet him the next day but he was bed-ridden because of the weather and they both felt terrible. His co-worker was happy to see the two boys again but was still Jay's biggest supporter. If he didn't want them to see him in his condition, then she wouldn't even let them in the apartment.

Jay was thankful, he was sick for the week again. He had a really weak immune system. But that got him to really think about both Mark and Donghyuck, what both boys meant to him. Jay wanted them both, he had fallen in love with two people. When he figured that part out, he cried for the night and woke up the next day with a runny nose. Really. Weak. Immune. System. When Jay told his coworker about his new self-discovery, she squealed and shouted out that she called it.

He was sitting on the couch in his apartment on his own. The other housemates were either in university or working and Jay was simply watching some T.V. He was looking through the channels and stuck to an episode of 'Gordan Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare' reading the Korean subtitles but grinning at the British swearing. Jay arched his brows when he heard the door bell go off.

He knew that the girls got creepy men trying to bang on their door at times because their neighbours were literally drunk dudes, so he was a little scared. He looked over at the T.V. remote and quickly picked it up, holding it out in front of him before he walked over to the door. He placed a hand on the door and twisted the handle open. Jay opened it quickly and hid behind the door a little before his shoulders fell and he rolled his eyes. "What are you two doing here?" he asked, looking over at the clock. It was midday.

"Is that a T.V. remote?" Donghyuck asked.

Jay threw the remote behind him onto the couch, "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Nice get up," Mark smirked from behind Donghyuck, eyeing the boys legs.

Jay looked down, his pajamas were in the wash so he was wearing one of the girl's pajamas shorts. It was fine because she was more masculine and they were 'Spider-man' prints but still embarrassing. He blushed and quickly slammed the door. Jay ran to the couch and grabbed the 'Hannah Montana' blanket, mentally cursing at how stupid everything the girls owned had some type of print on it. Why couldn't they buy grey shorts? Or a grey blanket like normal, boring people?

He tied the blanket around his skinny waist and rolled the top part up as if he were coming out of the shower and jogged back to the door. He opened it and looked at Mark in a challenging way as if to say 'comment on the Hannah Montana blanket and I'll skin you alive' type of way. He looked at them both to see that they were in gym wear, but he was pretty sure they were at a dance practise or something. They looked slightly out of breath but a little calm, "what are you doing here?"

"Can we come in?" Donghyuck asked.

Jay pouted, "No."

Mark smiled, "Please?"

"No."

"There are some creepy men as your next door neighbours you know?"

Jay squinted his eyes at Donghyuck and pushed his glasses up his nose in a cute manner, "I'm aware." He watched both boys awkwardly stand there before he realised that he was being a little too cruel, so he let them in. They walked inside and he looked back at the T.V. where Mr Ramsey had just started shouting at the owners of the restaurant for putting cooked and uncooked meat in the fridge together.

He scoffed at the T.V. "rookie mistake..." Jay turned the T.V. off and sat down on the arm chair, letting Mark and Donghyuck both take the love seat. Donghyuck had Mark's hand between his own, the younger fiddling with his boyfriends fingers whilst he looked around at the place. Jay tried to look away, not liking how much his chest pained at seeing them so alright. Whilst he had to suffer because his immune system lacked any white blood cells apparently.

"You still haven't answered my question," he deadpanned.

Donghyuck looked up from Mark's hand and smiled sheepishly. "I think," Mark suddenly spoke, "we should explain what we were doing the first time we came to the convenience store. Donghyuck and I had been dating for around... a year before then?" he looked at the younger for confirmation.

Donghyuck nodded, looking over at Jay. "I was getting bored of us. Not... of us, but there was something missing," he looked at Jay.

The older boy stared at Donghyuck blankly, "You got bored of Mark?"

"No, I got bored... there was something missing alright!" Donghyuck exclaimed. "Well... someone missing."

"You wanted kids?" he added.

Donghyuck didn't even stop himself from face palming right then and there, "You're both oblivious as heck... I'm- I literally cannot."

Jay pouted, "Hey— you're not exactly being clear here."

"We wanted another guy," Mark said. "Our friends: Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun... they're in a three-way relationship. It's called poly—"

"—amory, I know," Jay looked over at the two. They were staring at him hopefully, no one wanted to say anything else. Jay knew what they were implying; he wasn't that stupid he just wanted to hear it from them. "Then what? You talked about polyamory and then what?"

Mark looked at Donghyuck, "It was crazy really. We started listing stupid things- they were stupid at the time. I wanted the boy to like superhero movies so we could watch them together."

"I wanted to him to match outfits with me like couples on instagram," Donghyuck piped up.

"His favourite colour would be green."

"He'd be shorter than us—"

"An inch," Jay said. "I'm shorter than you by. an. inch."

Donghyuck felt the corners of his lips stretch, "He would wear glasses." Jay slipped his glasses off and threw them somewhere behind him. Donghyuck playfully narrowed his eyes at the older, "little shit."

"Thank you," he grinned.

Mark smiled, "Then we were told we had to go and get instant noodles for everyone in the dorm. So we both set out; we pushed our list of things we wanted away and then you popped up. So ready to help the both of us lost and helpless customers," Mark sighed dramatically.

Jay giggled, "And?"

"And we got to know you... until NCT Dream came out with 'Boom' and I had to go join my group for promotions and our comeback."

Jay nodded, "I did my research."

Mark gave such a genuine smile it made Jay's heart almost combust, "thank you. Seriously, our concepts are confusing, so thank you for taking the time."

Jay nodded subconsciously. "I had to leave with Donghyuck too. I had stuff at the company to sort out a new comeback, new songs, projects, everything. I wanted to give you a heads up but I couldn't. When I came back, it was a month late and you had quit. Donghyuck finished his promoting and we got together to try and find you—"

"I moved out and quit the only place you knew I worked at," he nodded to himself. "Talk about bad timing." He looked down at his lap, fiddling with the loose strings from the Hannah Montana blanket, her face was shaded a little pink because of the washing, but it was still soft. "Why are you back?" he asked, look at the two of them. "Almost everything was trying to make sure we never met each other. Like the universe was telling— damn I've been spending too much time with the housemates," he mumbled.

Donghyuck giggled lightly and sighed, relaxing into the sofa, "We want you. The boy we joked about, that was you," he said. Jay nodded, finally someone said it.

He sniffed, feeling his eyes prick with tears, "Sorry I—" he tried to wipe the tears away but he felt his shoulders shake. "I really shouldn't be the one doing this," he cried. Jay covered his face, embarrassed. Donghyuck's urge of 'must protect little bean' came up again and he was out of Mark's arms and sitting in front of Jay, balancing on his knees. The younger placed a hand on the crying boy's arm, slowly taking it away. Jay's cheeks, nose and eyes started to turn a little rosy colour, Donghyuck found himself absolutely infatuated.

Mark was beside him after a while, sitting a little behind Donghyuck and watching carefully how everything would play out. He didn't want to overwhelm the younger but feared he already did. There was a second of Jay and Donghyuck just staring at each other before the older boy wrapped his arms around the idol, crying on his shoulder. "I— I like you too," he cried, quite pathetically to be honest. It made Mark almost burst with relief when Jay looked up and motioned for him to join.

The oldest of the three, wrapped his arms around both boys. Jay slid off the arm chair and onto the ground, the Hannah Montana blanket doing nothing to reveal his legs and Spider-man themed shorts. Donghyuck was so happy he wanted to kiss the older, so he did, taking Jay by surprise. The boy made a little 'oomph' sound that had Mark melting into him. When Donghyuck pulled away, Jay stared at the younger with wide eyes before Mark turned his face and kissed him a lot more slowly and softly.

"Those- my first- okay..." he mumbled.

Donghyuck's eyes widened in realisation, "We were your first kiss?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry—"

"No it's alright—" the boy waved frantically, "—I'm not- I'm not like someone to make a huge fuss over a first kiss—"

"Oof shouldn't have said that," Mark warned.

"Not make a huge fuss!" Donghyuck shouted, "It's your first kiss. It should be cherished. But I just slapped my face against yours—"

"In actuality, you kind just gave me sloppy mouth-to-mouth—"

But everything that Jay was trying to get across to Donghyuck wasn't being said. The three boys stayed in the small position, all sitting on the ground and talking. The first to enter the apartment and see them in a triangle, like gossiping school girls was the youngest housemate, who had come back from uni. Her hair was in space buns and her t-shirt had pictures of tarot cards and crystals on it.

Jay looked up at her and smiled, "How was school?"

"I downed two cans of Red Bull and slept through AP Chemistry," she deadpanned.

The boy furrowed his brows, "You don't take AP Chemistry."

"I know, I was trying to get to the Engineering building, it was too far and AP Chemistry was right there... I failed." After that cheerful statement, she left to her room. Jay watched her leave for a minute and then turned back to Mark and Donghyuck. The three shared a look before bursting out into laughter.

Mark pulled Jay closer to him and smiled, "Jay would you like to be our boyfriend?"

Jay looked at the two of them and then thought for a second, "What about the whole dating thing? I did my research you know."

Donghyuck waved that thought away, "Everyone dates. It's usually the heterosexual couples that get caught. No one suspects anything when it's boys with boys or girls with girls. We're just... really close friends."

Jay pouted, "Can I at least tell my housemates?"

Mark frowned, "You can tell them you have two boyfriends, but not our names. Though, I'm pretty sure your coworker already knows, so it's fine if they figure it out on their own," he kissed the boys temple.

Jay hummed, "What about when you're both on tour and I'm stuck here."

Mark gave him a sad look, "We can try face time? Skype? Whatever we can," he said.

Jay nodded to himself, "Okay then. I'll guess we'll figure things out when they come our way," he whispered, a small smile gracing his soft features.

Donghyuck pulled Jay into his lap and kissed his cheek, "Good. I have two boyfriends now!"

Jay giggled and nodded, "I'm also still in shorts so..." he stood up, and almost screamed when Mark hooked a hand around his thigh. "No touchy!" he squeaked, looking at the older in surprise. Donghyuck smirked and stood up, pulling the boy closer to him by his hips. Jay covered his face with his hands for the second time that day, his cheeks covered rosy again because of the two boys in front of him.

***

"Hi, you must be Taeil hyung," Jay bowed to the NCT 127 member. He was currently being introduced to every member; whom he had previously thought were his boyfriends roommates. He looked at both Johnny and Jaehyung, "Johnny hyung and Jaehyun hyung?" he looked over at Mark who nodded, looking proud. "Taeyong hyung," he pointed to the leader. "Tae mum," he squeaked, making Donghyuck burst out laughing.

Doyoung smirked, "Looks like he got you down pretty quickly, huh hyung?"

"Doyoung mum!" Jay said, pointing at the older. Doyoung's eyes widened and he looked over at Mark and Donghyuck for an explanation. Mark simply pointed over to the Dreamies who grinned widely. "Kun mum!" Jay smiled, pointing at Kun who sighed but nodded, already exhausted. "Yuta hyung, Winwin hyung, Xiao Jun, Yangyang, Hendery, Jungwoo hyung... um..." Jay looked over at Lucas and tilted his head.

"Ten?" he asked.

Ten and Lucas both stared at each other with wide eyes before shaking their heads, "No!"

"Oh, whoops... sorry?" Jay tilted his head, making Taeyong coo.

"A new son!" Taeyong exclaimed and ran over to the younger, wrapping his arms around the small boy. Jay looked up at Taeyong with a wide grin before giggling.

Mark and Donghyuck both shook their heads but pulled the younger out of their leaders arms, "how'd I do?"

"Well you definitely did your research," Mark said.

Donghyuck nodded, "Amazingly hyung, now let's see if you can do the Dream members!"

-fin


End file.
